Perhaps she didn't have a buddy. Look how long she'd been a diver and that it mentioned she was good at it too.
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I agree too: buddies enter, descend, stop to clear if needed, stay together, ascend, and exit all together - or they're not buddies. I'm picky who I will commit to that much tho, and usually avoid committing.I agree that when my buddy is forced to surface/call the dive for any reason my job as a buddy is to continue being a buddy and go with them.
I disagree that having one fin means you are "dead in the water" inconvenient yes but it should not incapacitate a diver. No doubt a link in the chain of events that led to this tragedy tho. In my OW course my instructor taught us how to cross our ankles and fin with one fin. Not a bad skill to practice periodically. Perhaps the diver did over exert on the surface.
It was said that the diver asked another boat to radio their boat to come for a pick up. I wonder why the diver didn't board that boat and change over? Is that not done in this location? It just seems strange to me to leave the diver in the water alone. One would assume the diver did not appear to be in distress at that point which would make me think perhaps a medical event
Sounds like another case where the buddy didn't ensure she was safe before proceeding with the dive. It may be in the end that there was nothing the buddy could have done, but the buddy should have been there with her. Nobody should be surfacing alone if they are aborting the dive for an unplanned reason. I remember a case discussed here a few years ago in the Florida Keys where a diver aborted the dive early and was escorted most of the way to the boat by the DM while the buddy stayed down. After the DM left and before the diver reached the boat, she apparently had some distress on the surface and drowned. If the buddy or the DM in that instance had stayed with her or at least near her until she was climbing the ladder, she would probably be alive today.
During the SI, I asked the DM for any generic pointers he might have for me, since I'm new, and he actually told me to stop following my buddy around, and that he'd take care of my buddy.
Oh God, unbelievable
What was the name of the dive company????